Another day, another ‘best of’ list, another ho-hum

As always, I have my suspicions about whether the results are based totally on reader votes, or are decided with heavy input from the weekly tabloid’s staff. It has some categories I regard as useless. Examples:

Best Cider — The new Nine Pin Cider Works in Albany, of course. How many cideries are there in the area?

Best Food Co-op — Honest Weight in Albany. How may food co-ops are there in the area?

Best Belgian Pub — The Merry Monk, 90 North Pearl St., Albany. How many Belgian pubs are there in the area?

Then we have categories that are obviously subdivided simply to allow the tabloid to “honor” more businesses (Could it be because lots of establishments pay for “thank you” ads?). Or categories that are simply ridiculous, such as “Best International/Unclassifiable” and “Best Conversion from French Bistro to English Pub.”

Rather than selecting the area’s “Best Pub Food,” the category is split into four different cities. “Best Pizza” gets three geographic divisions, and “Best Coffeehouse” is split into four.

Then there is “Best Brunch” and “Best Brunch Booze Included,” and night owls’ favorites are split into “Best Late-Night Dining” and “Best Late-Night Face-Stuffing.”

Anyone who thinks this listing is truly worthwhile is welcome to it. I’ll continue to look elsewhere for guidance.